In 1993, the Harvard Law Review published Cheryl Harris’s now seminal article, Whiteness as Property. Over the past two decades, the article has had tremendous impact inside and outside of legal academia, as well as within and beyond the borders of the United States. Broadly articulated, the purpose of this conference is to map and critically examine this impact. More precisely, the conference will explore the multiple trajectories along which Whiteness as Property has travelled and query whether and to what extent its conceptual framework has been re-constituted or re-articulated in the process. Over two and a half days, the conference will reflect on the political, legal, and intellectual context out of which Whiteness as Property emerged, explore how, if at all, its theoretical arguments have been revised, interrogate the impact of Whiteness as Property across academic disciplines, consider its relevance for a range of civil rights debates, as well as its implications globally, and examine the mobilization of the ideas in Whiteness as Property as pedagogy, legal practice, and social movement organizing.

UCLA School of Law is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider. Attendees can earn up to 2.0 hours of Recognition and Elimination of Bias in the Legal Profession and Society credit and an additional 11.75 hours of general credit (a total of 13.75 hours) for attending this event.